David Reimer

Labor Market Effects of Field of Study in Comparative Perspective : An Analysis of 22 European Countries

This article seeks to provide one of the first systematic comparative analyses of labor market consequences associated with fields of study. Using data of 22 countries from the European Labor Force Surveys (2004 and 2005), we analyze how field of study affects unemployment and occupational status for university-educated graduates. Our core hypothesis is that relative differences between fields should increase with educational expansion at the university level. Results of multilevel two-step regressions generally confirm our expectations. The more students graduate from universities, the greater the differences in labor market chances of university graduates from different fields.

Patterns of Social Inequalities in Access to Higher Education in France and Germany

This article explores social selectivity in access to tertiary education in France and Germany in the period from 1980 to 2000. Results of multinomial logistic regression models show that access to different postsecondary institutions is characterized by marked social background effects in both countries. Depending on the type of tertiary institution we consider in France or Germany, social selectivity into fields of study is also observed. Overall, there is no indication for substantial changes in the pattern of inequality in access to tertiary education in either country during the past two decades.

Highly educated but in the wrong field?: Educational specialisation and labour market risks of men and women in Spain and Germany

ABSTRACT This paper investigates the impact of gender differences in tertiary education, i.e., field of study and level of tertiary degree, on two selected labour market risks: unemployment and low-status jobs. Using Labour Force Survey data from the year 2000, results of the logistic regression models and non-linear decomposition analyses generally confirm our expectation that the field of study explains a sizable portion of the gender gap in unemployment and low-status jobs in both countries. However, the level of tertiary degree earned explains only part of the female disadvantage behind holding a low-status job in Spain. The analyses also show that compared to men, women with a degree in a predominantly male field of study seem to be systematically disadvantaged in both Germany and Spain, particularly with respect to unemployment. Overall, the analyses reveal that gender differentiation in tertiary education leads to similar outcomes in two very different institutional contexts.

Soziale Ungleichheit und differenzierte Ausbildungsentscheidungen beim Übergang zur Hochschule

Der Ubergang zur Hochschule nimmt im deutschen Bildungssystem eine besondere Bedeutung ein. Im Gegensatz zu anderen Ausbildungssystemen, wie z.B. dem der USA, stellt der Ubergang zur Hochschule nicht das „zentrale Selektionsmoment“ im deutschen Ausbildungssystem dar (vgl. Teichler 2005: 44-46). Schulerinnen und Schuler, die eine Studienberechtigung erworben haben, sind bereits eine sehr selektierte Gruppe, welche verschiedene vorangegangene Ubergange im Bildungssystem, insbesondere den von der Grundschule auf weiterfuhrende Schulen, bewaltigt haben, so dass aktuell nur ca. 40-45 Prozent eines Altersjahrgangs die Studienberechtigung erwerben (vgl. Statistisches Bundesamt 2006). Wie die vorausgegangen Beitrage in diesem Band gezeigt haben, spielen dabei sowohl primare als auch sekundare Effekte der sozialen Herkunft eine wichtige Rolle. Die bis zum Erwerb der Hochschulreife akkumulierte Ungleichheit ist somit Ausgangspunkt fur das weitere Bildungsgeschehen und eine Ursache fur die ungleiche Beteiligung von verschiedenen soziokonomischen Herkunftsgruppen an Hochschulbildung.

Incomplete equalization: The effect of tracking in secondary education on educational inequality

This paper tests whether the existence of vocationally oriented tracks within a traditionally academically oriented upper education system reduces socioeconomic inequalities in educational attainment. Based on a statistical model of educational transitions and data on two entire cohorts of Danish youth, we find that (1) the vocationally oriented tracks are less socially selective than the traditional academic track; (2) attending the vocationally oriented tracks has a negative effect on the likelihood of enrolling in higher education; and (3) in the aggregate the vocationally oriented tracks improve access to lower-tier higher education for low-SES students. These findings point to an interesting paradox in that tracking has adverse effects at the micro-level but equalizes educational opportunities at the macro-level. We also discuss whether similar mechanisms might exist in other educational systems.

Soziologinnen und Soziologen im Beruf. Ergebnisse ausgewählter Absolventenstudien der 90er Jahre

Was macht man eigentlich mit einem Soziologie-Diplom? Mit dieser oder ahnlichen Fragen werden die meisten Studierenden der Soziologie im Verlaufe ihres Studiums mehr als einmal konfrontiert. Das Klischee eines weltfremden, „linken“ und ideologiebeladenen Studiums scheint in der Offentlichkeit auch heute noch verbreitet zu sein. Das vielzitierte Bonmot Helmut Schmidts aus dem Jahr 1968 „Wir haben zu viele Soziologen und Politologen. Wir brauchen mehr Studenten, die sich fur anstandige Berufe entscheiden, die der Gesellschaft nutzen“, illustriert die Skepsis, die gegenuber einem sozialwissenschaftlichen Studienabschluss besteht.

Labour market outcomes and their impact on tertiary decisions in Germany: class and gender differences

In order to explain why students choose to enter or abstain from university education, economic theories of educational choice assume that the income returns to a degree are critical in motivating students’ educational decisions. However, important group differences between men and women as well as students from different class backgrounds that might influence the relationship between expected returns and educational choice have largely been ignored in this line of research. This article explores how and to what extent changes in income and unemployment returns for graduates influence the educational decisions of students that are eligible to enrol in tertiary education in Germany. A unique dataset from the German Higher Education Information System Institute consisting of large-scale surveys of university qualified students is analysed. Contrary to many previous findings, the results of the article suggest that variations in relative income returns do not seem to affect the educational decisions of school leavers while variation in unemployment seems to have significant effects on postsecondary decisions for women only. Furthermore, female students from lower-class backgrounds appear to be more responsive to changes in unemployment rates than their higher-class peers.

No Crisis but Methodological Separatism: A Comparative Study of Finnish and Danish Publication Trends between 1990 and 2009

This article compares methodological trends in nationally and internationally oriented sociology using data from the articles of three Nordic sociological journals: one international (Acta Sociologica), one Finnish (Sosiologia), and one Danish (Dansk Sociologi). The data consists of 943 articles in total: 353 published in Acta Sociologica, 277 in Sosiologia and 313 in Dansk Sociologi over the period 1990–2009. We distinguish between three main types of article: those having no or very little empirical content; empirical articles applying qualitative analysis; and empirical articles applying quantitative methods. The results suggest that quantitative research is increasingly concentrated in international publishing venues, while national journals act more and more as platforms for qualitative research. In conclusion, the broader implications of these diverging publishing trends for sociological research are discussed.

Teacher Recruitment in Context: Differences between Danish and Finnish Beginning Teacher Education Students

Against the background of differing admission selectivity, structure, and status of teacher education in Denmark and Finland, we analyze the extent to which beginning teacher education students differ with respect to previous educational pathways, socio-demographic characteristics, academic self-concepts, and occupational motivations. In both Denmark and Finland, representative groups of first-year teacher education students and final-year upper-secondary students were surveyed. The collected data enabled us to characterize teacher education students in contrast to a baseline reference group of school students and to compare these differences across countries (difference-in-differences estimation). The results of our study indicate that Danish student teachers lag behind their Finnish peers in the valuation of their math skills. In addition, the average motivational profiles of Danish and Finnish teacher education students differ markedly. Implications of our findings are discussed.

Kontexteffekte und soziale Ungleichheit beim Übergang von der Schule zur Hochschule

In diesem Beitrag wird der Frage nachgegangen, inwieweit regional und uber die Zeit variierende Rahmenbedingungen und Gelegenheitsstrukturen die Ausbildungsentscheidungen von Studienberechtigten in Deutschland beeinflussen. Es wird Theorie und Empirie separat fur vier verschiedene Kontextniveaus aufgearbeitet: Zuerst wird die Rolle des 1) Schulkontexts und 2) des Wohnorts auf Studienabsicht und Studienwahl erortert. Hieran anknupfend folgt 3) die Diskussion der Bedeutung von regional (oder uber die Zeit) variierenden Arbeitsmarktbedingungen auf die Studienentscheidung. Im letzten Abschn. 4) wird auf bundeslandspezifische Variation in der institutionellen Ausgestaltung und Entwicklung der Oberstufe bzw. des Hochschulsystems eingegangen. In diesem Zusammenhang wird auch die aktuelle Frage aufgegriffen, ob die Einfuhrung bzw. Abschaffung der Studiengebuhren in einigen Bundeslandern in Deutschland Konsequenzen fur das Studienverhalten und die soziale Ungleichheit beim Hochschulzugang gehabt haben. Zur Erklarung der Wirkung von Kontexteffekten werden separat fur die verschiedenen Kontextniveaus aus Rational-Choice-Ansatzen abgeleitete Argumente vorgestellt, welche die Rolle von Kosten, Nutzen und Erfolgswahrscheinlichkeiten bei der Wahl einer Bildungsalternative betonen und daruber hinaus eine sozial ungleiche Wirkung dieser Mechanismen offenlegen. Der Beitrag zeigt, dass die Bildungsentscheidungen von Studienberechtigten durch Kontexteffekte auf verschiedenen Ebenen deutlich beeinflusst werden konnen. Allerdings ist auch klar, dass in Deutschland zu den meisten im Beitrag diskutierten Themen noch ein groser Forschungsbedarf besteht. Dies gilt im besonderen Mase fur die Wirkung von Schulkontexten, deren Einfluss auf postsekundare Ausbildungsentscheidungen weitestgehend unerforscht ist.